#big fan of the shadow time loop theory

[bluepebbled]

Something something - might be reading into it - but the fact that Swann is always/usually the one holding the light up for everyone else in the group. Does this tie into the fact she's the one that most fondly remembers their Summer? Was she the glue (besides Kat) that held the group together?

She was both the light and record keeper.

So, what would've happened if Swann hadn't recorded that red balloon?

[mamamittens]

Oh, Sweet Child of Mine (Pt. 11)

Platonic Whitebeard Crew & Reader-Insert

Main|First|Previous

Warnings: Yandere behavior (somehow I think I managed to loop Teach into it now too, so congrats, you've charmed a bastard man). If you find yandere content uncomfortable, please do block the tag 'oh sweet child of mine' as well as any relevant variations to 'one piece yandere'.

Do not tolerate this behavior in real life.

Stay safe and have fun!

If my mental math is correct, I should finish this in 4~ish more chapters. So we're nearing the end!

Also, surprisingly sympathetic take on Teach's backstory, didn't know I had it in me. This is assuming the fan theory that he's from a winter island and was with Whitebeard since he was young, btw.

Word Count: 2,099

Teach grinned as his new crew set the sails to leave the small island he’d recruited them from. Dawn was just breaking and he wanted to make good time—just in case he already had tails from his old crew. He wasn’t entirely sure how much of a head start he had given the rush he was in to ensure Thatch didn’t eat the fruit. Decades looking for it and he nearly lost his chance again.

He adjusted your limp body under his arm for a moment, enjoying the palpable feeling of his power increasing from the contact. The shadows seemed to writhe hungrily at his senses, eagerly awaiting his command in a way they simply didn’t without you. You… well, you were a bit of last minute surprise as well. Sure, in theory, he could just take your fruit but he wasn’t confident it would work the same way. And he couldn’t risk wasting it if it didn’t. Besides, you’re the perfect bait.

He has the power. He has the plan. Now he just needs the reputation to become the Pirate King. And what better way than taking down his old crew one at a time? Sowing chaos to fracture them until Oyaji is too weak to stand against him and properly claim rise to his lofty goals as ‘Blackbeard’. Killing Thatch would certainly get someone on his ass, though he was torn between commanders as to who it could be. Izo was sore enough about losing old friends, and Marco may feel responsible as first mate. But Ace—well, he was a spitfire at the best of times and his old commander to boot.

Taking you was sort of like kicking the hornet’s nest. While also becoming even more powerful in a single move. How could he not do it?

The minor issue of ensuring you never have a chance of squirming away was easily solved with a bit of chain. It’s not like you were particularly strong, though you were smart enough to not do anything too risky—which he appreciated really. Though he’d prefer you sticking around willingly if only to not have to carry you every time you fell asleep.

Teach chuckled a little to himself as he returned to his newly minted quarters. You were wearing down pretty fast the longer he was ‘on the run’. No real chance to properly rest or recuperate from what must be a stressful situation—for you at least. If he neglected to feed you every now and then it only helped ensure you were weaker than before. Who knows, he might not even need the chain if this kept up.

Teach set you down on the sparse bed, unhooking his end of the chain to secure it to the latch on the wall. It wasn’t like he was going to use the bed himself. He paused a moment to watch as you curled up against the wall, completely dead to the world.

Heh. Cute.

He didn’t get why Oyaji recruited the way he did. Pretending to be a big family when they were actually just a band of pirates taking what they wanted. Too soft for a man with the strength to do anything he desired. Too many vulnerabilities. But every so often he thought he understood it… a little. Late night parties with lighthearted competition. Long running arguments about inane subject that both parties are a little too invested in to be serious.

Teach reached down and removed your glasses, examining the cracked lens. Bending it in the light to watch it refract as he considered your position. His prisoner and, technically, first mate. Though he wouldn’t be having you fight—not that he’d trust you to fight for him right now. He had the absolute upper hand over you. Chose to stay his hand. Because you had use to him.

He heard you shudder a little and paused, setting the thick glasses down. You were cold—weak body sensitive to the relative chill in the room. Unbidden, he remembered long, cold nights on his home island in the snow. Powerless and unsure if he’d survive to see daylight again.

Until Oyaji found him. A small, frail part of his chest ached at the memory. The sheer relief that he was safe now. His next meal guaranteed at no cost. No more cold, lonely nights. Even now, he calls him that. Oyaji. Despite fully planning to kill him. The idea didn’t conflict in his head. It was simply the way of things. Old replaced by the new. What higher respect could he pay his father-figure than personally ensuring his demise to further his own prospects? To step out of the shadows and get rid of one of the few people alive that can remember the sad, pathetic child in the snow?

Perhaps this strange sense of sentiment was his own, personal weakness. Crafted by a man too weak of heart to truly conquer the seas.

Teach shrugged off his coat, laying it over you gently. Chuckling when you stopped trembling.

He was a pirate. He could indulge in whatever vice he wanted… though perhaps cautiously. It wouldn’t do to deride Oyaji for something he, himself, was guilty of in excess.

He didn’t get why Marco took you. Why Oyaji agreed to take you in. Well, aside from your devil fruit. But the soft glove approach smacked of weakness given your surprisingly stubborn refusal.

But the slow, rolling satisfaction that settled in his chest knowing that he made sure you weren’t cold… he thought he could understand Oyaji a little better now. Why he kept picking up strays everywhere he went so indulgently in the same way he’d sneak sips of good booze when the nurses weren’t looking.

It was a strange, frail sort of pride to partake in. Pride at providing. But Teach learned at Oyaji’s knee to take enjoyment from the little things in life.

Besides, it wasn’t like you could sell him out or take advantage of what scraps he gave you. As long as you behaved, he supposed there was no problem in these small gestures of kindness. So long as you never forgot your place, that is.

--*--

Luffy laughed, loudly and with glee as his older brother teased his crew. He was so proud of the people he’d recruited so far and wanted Ace to see what he did. Those bright, beautiful sparks that drew Luffy like a moth to flame. The spark that Ace himself had since they were children that only grew since they parted. Ace was still hurt, a little broken inside, but it had healed since they last met.

“Why are you here, anyhow?” Nami asked, “I thought Whitebeard mostly stuck to the New World?” Ever inquisitive, Luffy’s smile widened at how clever his navigator was. Ace scowled, tipping his head towards the man he brought with him.

Pineapple. Well, Ace called him ‘Marco’ but obviously Pineapple was better. Tall and blond with bright blue eyes—achingly reminding him of Sabo but different enough that Luffy could barely see the ghost of his other brother.

“We’re tracking down a traitor. He tried to kill one of our own and kidnapped another.” Pineapple scowled with dark eyes. Luffy’s crew was shocked—giving Luffy the impression that this was an even bigger deal than he first thought.

“A nakama-killer? Who?” Ussop asked breathlessly, “What kind of monster would make it out from a Yonko ship after that?!”

“Teach.” Ace hissed in a way that reminded Luffy of the few times he said Bluejam or Celestial Dragon. Fire flickering between his teeth. “He goes by ‘Blackbeard’ now. Promise me if you run into him you won’t fight him, Lu. He nearly killed Thatch. You’re not strong enough to fight him yet.”

Luffy made a noise of surprise, both at Ace’s words and the name.

“Hey, didn’t we already run into him?” Zoro asked, glancing at Luffy for confirmation. Luffy remembered the weird pirate well. Poor taste in food and rude as hell.

“Yeah, we did actually. Weird guy with a weird laugh. With the tired four-eyes.” The two looked at Luffy sharply. “I almost got in a fight with him but he weirded me out.”

“Tired four eyes?” Ace asked with a pissed off expression. Luffy felt a small twinge of guilt for not helping the stranger at the time, but something inside him whispered ‘not yet’.

“Yeah. They were connected with a chain. Thought he had a slave or something but Nami said it wasn’t quite right.” Luffy explained. Nami nodded, tensing slightly as the two looked at her for more answers.

“Well, usually slaves just have the collar. And he didn’t make any demands or order them around. They just had to… follow him. He even yanked them by accident and apologized. Most slave owners don’t bother with that.” Nami huffed.

Luffy pouted. They looked promising. He even felt… weird when they were around. Like he was stronger somehow. His heart like a steel drum in his chest. Like he felt when he was around his nakama. But they lacked a… spark. Like they lost it and Luffy didn’t know how to give it back. Almost tried anyway but his crew stopped him.

He hoped that next time they found that spark again. He’d love to have them on his crew.

Ace nodded.

“We’re getting close, at least. Hopefully we’ll catch up to them soon. Who knows, we might be able to introduce you guys properly!” Ace grinned, the edges a little sharp like he was suggesting dine-in-dashing when they were kids and hunting crocodiles was too much of a hassle. Luffy grinned.

“I wanna meet them again! Hey! Hey! Ace, do you think they’d join my crew?” Luffy cackled when Pineapple and Ace jolted at the question. Ace narrowed his eyes, clicking his tongue with a thin smile.

“Oi! Don’t go stealing from my crew, you little shit!” Ace hooked his arm around Luffy’s neck stretching it out as he gave Luffy a noogie through his hat.

Luffy squirmed, crying out at the unfairness.

“Ack! Aaaaccee~! They look cool. Though really tired! I promise to take good care of them! Ace!” Luffy complained. Arms failing uselessly as Ace kept him pinned in place. “Ace!”

Luffy’s crew watched with wide eyes as Pineapple smirked from his spot against the wall.

Okay, that felt a little like Sabo.

--*--

You looked out at the growing island, Banaro, chain wrapped around your waist so it wouldn’t drag across the deck. You knew that Teach would come over shortly to reattach it to his bracelet. For the past couple of months, he’d given you relative freedom while at sea and restricting your movement once they got close enough to an island. For the most part, you’d been avoiding the crew, which Teach encouraged.

Probably to make sure you didn’t get any outside help, not that you felt confident you would have received any if you’d asked.

The closest chances to escape you’ve noticed was the revolutionary early into your capture with Teach and Straw Hat—surprisingly. Not that you think Teach knew that.

Though the occasional spotting of a sea king was also promising, Teach had them firmly sail in whatever direction was away from potential pods. Kill joy.

Anyway, it wasn’t that Straw Hat was stronger than Teach, he was definitely a bit too green to manage it given Teach’s decades at sea.

But… that devil fruit of his.

It called out to you. Boundless as the horizon. A drumbeat that vibrated your soul. A call to… something. Something just out of your reach. And you had the sense that if you had only known what that ‘something’ was, Straw Hat would have thrown hands the minute he saw you.

The pirate seemingly breathing in sync with his fruit, only held back by how weak he was currently. Which was a strange thing to sense. Usually fruits were just not utilized well. They didn’t typically hold such obvious power that the user simply was unable to access it at that time.

It felt elastic. Snappy and twisting in a way that you found delightful. Made you want to laugh without even hearing what he was saying.

You smiled a little. Strangely optimistic for the first time in a long time.

Pirate King, huh?

… Somehow, you felt as though Straw Hat Luffy would shake the world. And despite being a ex-marine, you looked forward to it.

Hopefully, you’d be in a position to see it for yourself.

[kaypeace21]

"Rebel robin" easterggs

- Robin's friend is a horror movie fan whos fav movie is evil dead (jonathan has a poster of it in his room)

- Robin's parent's car is the " dodge dart" a ref to Dustin's demodog-dart

-robin and her friends make analogies to zombies (like Will- the zombie boy).

- robin faints. And her friend milton says "blink once for yes twice for no". A ref to what Joyce said to Will in s1.

- robin's other friend has a little sister named el-ie who pretends to be a squirrel. A ref to el killing a squirrel in s2. This is also reminiscent of a scene from the st prequel novel ' suspicious minds' where young-kali pretended to be a tiger (the Hawkins school mascot) & a rabbit (Jonathan's hunting story).

- robin reminds me alot of the byers: she is into photography and rock like jonathan and even worked at the movie theatre like jonathan did in the og pilot. They both like David bowie and cook for their families. She also is poor and wears hand-me down clothes from relatives (like Will). She also is into existential philosophers. Which is also similar to jonathan who had a poster of the poet rimbaud in his room.

- robin is almost run over by a car by a bully while riding her bike: similar to Mike, Dustin, and Lucas in s2

- robin says the best accessory for a girl is her middle finger. Cue max giving the middle finger to billy in s2 XD

- robin (before Will dissapears) sees the quarry and gets uncomfortable and thinks of metaphorical monsters

- similar to how billy had baseball references (along with Will). Robin wears a baseball shirt

- her fav flavor of pie is cherry (like alexi and cherry slurpies). She also gets pissed at a guy sipping a cherry flavored drink- similar to hopper in s3 with alexi

- she cuts her hair and she describes it as looking like a lion. El and Will owned lion plushies in s1.

- robin refs Chicago (kali lives there) and NYC (hopper used to live there), and California (where max and billy used to live).

-tammy's fav song is total eclipse of the heart: the song Robin and Steve sang in s3. Tammy would often sing the song in robin and Steve's class.

- they make references to the hellfire club: she describes a time where she dresses like a cross between a nerd and a rebel. And a mom yells at her appearance saying she looks "goddless' . And another of Robin's friend (kate) is told ' what demon is possessing you, kate?" (hinting at the satanic panic). Meanwhile someone describes Mike and his friends as "hellions' as another hint to this. We also see how alot of parents got paranoid and a bit crazy when Will and barb dissappeared- prob foreshadowing the chaos that will happen if more kids dissappear in s4. Along with the satanic panic

-Robin is visiting her friend Kate at her house. Kate wanted to listen to Madonna together. Max and el listened to Madonna at el's.

- Robin's friend (kate) says "I dumped his ass" in reference to her cheating bf. A little nod to the m*leven breakup

- robin (like Will) felt excluded during the summer cause her friends kate and dash (Kate's now ex bf) were always making out . Sound familiar- cough m*leven

- robin annoyed says " makeouts, breakups and declarations of love all in the span of a week". Wow if that ain't a diss to certain pairing we know in s3 XD

- kate (like mike) says to Robin dating the opposite sex is a part of growing up . Which scares Robin (and Will in s3).

- robin has a nightmare of running down the school hallway with short hair (like el in s2 via the upsidedown)

- robin contemplates shaving her head (like el)

- robin says she likes to sometimes dress androgynous . And found a cool suit. Which we saw in s4 bts pics I assume.

- robin watches a music video where there are duplicate indianna joneses (could be a ref to all the billy duplicates in s3?)

- robin says " I stare at the ceiling. The ceiling stares back. I'm stuck and don't know what to do" a ref to the s3 song with robin called "the ceiling is beautiful"

- a character named Sheena reminds me a bit of Will or el . She is very quiet, queercoded, and is often bullied. And she finds mean notes and other things in her locker- placed there by bullies. A bit like how Will found the zombieboy note in his locker. But sheena can be another name for Jane so ...maybe foreshadowing of el/jane being bullied in highscool?

- when robin hears a hom*phobic comment on tv- she describes the anxiety like a ' thundercloud in a big open sky' and a "chill". Which reminds me of the mf being associated with clouds, thunder, and lightning. And the mf liking it cold.

- robin constantly describes the monster or shadow in her life- whether it be her talking about conformity or the problems of consumerism while she is poor (themes of s3).

- robin before realizing she was gay/crushing on tammy just says " I don't get crushes' which reminds me a bit of Will saying " I'm not going to fall in love" (as the lyrics are " love thats new to you, you open up the door')

-robin on her bike hears something (demogorgan) and runs back to her house , locks the door, and calls her friend- and the phone gets electrocuted. The next day Will is said to be missing. (Another Will paralllel).

- i was right about robin being in theatre. So we most likely will see robin in theatre in s4 (she also auditioned with a friend in the book). So for s4 my guess is she may be in the drama club with dustin- cause in s1 he had a drama shirt

- one of her friends is named milton. Since the documentary 'paradise lost' was on the s4 movie list. Its prob a ref to John milton who wrote the fictional 'paradise lost'. The character Sheena may be a ref to the 80s film/movies *where sheena (jane) was psychic

-Robin's gal pal (kate) and Robin eat m&ms and candies together. Kate jokes m&ms and candy bars are 'foods of the gods'. El ate m&ms in s3. They joke how talking about plural gods (instead of 1) would get them in trouble. In case you are unaware- kali (is the name of a Hindu goddess) and el (is the name of a cannanite god) .

-Robin also mentions hopper's car smells like eggos.

- robin tries running away (like el in s2, max in her novel, and jonathan also wrongfully assumed Will ranaway in s1 too).

-robin tries to get a job at Joyce's, than Bob's, and later gets a job where jonathan used to work

-bob newby describes the byers family as his "home" . Similar to how El describes the Hawkins gang as "home".

- robin says she was friends with barb before nancy. Suspiciously right after she says this- barb grabs Robin's hallpass that says ' glitch in the time space continuim. " the teacher who wrote this called robin a "glitch". Which makes me wonder if my did theory is right- but ...that certain powers at be may also alter memories or things so people assume said people have always been around.Mentioning it cause it seemed suspicious.

-not an eastegg but robin can't believe how nice Bob is. And Bob says the byers filled a hole in his life 😭 . She also felt an instant connection with Will and saw alot of herself in him.And asked if Joyce ever thought of moving like everyone suggested . One of the reasons Robin didn't like steve was because Steve never mentioned how Jonathan took innapropriate photos of Nancy. So everyone at school just knew jonathan as the quiet kid who takes pictures. So to everyone it just seemed like- wow you're bullying the quiet kid who's brother is missing and take away the one thing still left in his life that makes him happy. Which is why everyone assumes jonathan beat up steve later. Interesting to know how general Hawkins (not in the loop) viewed things

- the book referenced alot of previously mentioned movies on the s4 list or from prior duffer interviews...along with a few NEW movies ,books, plays, singers, and songs that I have to analyze for another day ...

[tornrose24]

Okay idea for an au of an au. Hear me out.... au where the lords do adopt Rose, but sad. Say the lords do take in Rose, but through miscommunication or whatever, they believe Ethan is a danger to her, or that he has the same intentions as Miranda. Whenever Ethan gets close to one of them, they hand Rose off to the next lord to keep her safe, knowing there might be a battle. The story goes through as usual with Ethan killing them one by one, continuously going from place to place to find his daughter, along the way finding small, child like artifacts like toys and such with a rose sown into them. By the end, all the lords are dead and Ethan as his daughter back. As he walks away with her, Rose sees the ashes of the family that had taken her in, and even in her infant mind, knows its them and starts bawling and trying to reach for pile of ashes. Ethan thinks shes basically traumatized from being kidnapped. It isnt til he find a photo of all four lords with Rose, as a family that he realizes that he may have made a mistake.

That is just... wow,

It’d be like the Malificent movie if it was actually good, had a downer ending, and didn’t pointlessly turn the dad into the villain just to make the main character look sympathetic. Or a Shadow of the Colossus tragedy.

So first off I don’t know how badly Ethan was needed for the ceremony,  but I could easily see Miranda doing some horrific gaslighting on the lords to make them think Ethan was an awful father and husband (especially given what she’s capable of doing and if she did it beforehand by knocking out Ethan for a bit and messing with Mia’s head and safety for a bit by posing as her husband. And I don’t think I need to say what kind of things happened in order to mess with not just the lords’ heads, but poor Mia as well...). And Miranda does not let them kill Ethan as much as they want to-she wants to get rid of her false children before she can get her true child back. What better way than a game of deception and let Ethan do the dirty work?

Alcina’s death would not only further convince the others that Ethan is the bad guy, but him killing her daughters first would only make things especially worse. Like by the time Bela dies, Rose is immediately sent to Donna. Unfortunately Alcina’s hatred for men (made worse by Miranda’s trickery) only further aids in her family’s downfall...

Donna would know what it’s like to have a genuine loving father. So she’d also have a personal grudge against Ethan for ‘being scum undeserving of the title of father’. And a lot of her mind games and what Angie says would reflect that (“Do you do this with Rose too” would take on a much more darker meaning). Her monsters in the basement would become more horrific and reflecting of young victims of crimes best left unsaid. However it only fuels Ethan’s anger moreso and he kills her. Yet Rose is already with Moreau...

Moreau is kind of already screwed given he can’t control his transformations (not only is the environment a safety hazard for an infant, but you can only do so much in a giant monster fish form) and his low IQ doesn’t help him out in this scenario. But he’d get Rose sent to Heisenburg just after meeting Ethan and likely try to kill him than just block off his exit. Yet he too is fated to die for a misunderstanding...

Heisenburg would be the only one to somewhat suspect that Ethan is actually a good guy and that Miranda was screwing with everyone’s heads, but he had no way to convince his ‘siblings’ otherwise. Even his words around Ethan would be more careful in case the worst case scenario is true. Yet the scars of the past still linger and he remembers all too well what it meant to be a child under an abusive/controlling ‘mother’ and his guard is up. However he’s also too focused on overthrowing Miranda and still says that Rose could be used to defeat Miranda, and like in canon Ethan just doesn’t trust him and it later leads to Heisenburg’s death. And without anyone to keep an eye on Rose, Miranda steals her away while the big fight is happening. (So basically Heisenburg sees that Rose could end up like him when Miranda took him, but revenge still comes first)....

The fact that there are no more villagers left to hide Rose doesn’t help and the Lycans are too focused on Chris and his group. Then Miranda does what none of the lords had the guts to do in the first place for her twisted ceremony...

And to further worsen the situation? Chris (who was probably keeping an eye on things) never tells Ethan that the lords never truly harmed his daughter, or even thought to approach the lords about the truth when he got an idea of the situation, yet understandably didn’t believe it was true, so things only got worse. And The Duke? The only other person who’d tell Ethan the truth? He probably wouldn’t have been in the loop and didn’t know of the lords’ rate moment of compassion. So things continue as they do...

I think I’m order for that photo to happen, Rose would of had to have spent a few days with the lords first before shit hit the fan. And it would have been stolen and hidden away until the very end, when it was too late. But yes, she’d have been around them long enough to not feel any fear towards them-perhaps she’d have grown attached to them. And the toys and gifts? Hints of truth and humanity, yet could easily be ignored by a desperate father who only cares about his daughter’s safety and nothing else.

Furthermore, maybe once upon a time the lords were once decent folks before Miranda came into their lives. But by the time of the AU’s current timeline, their own crimes and reputations would horrifically backfire on them in a time where they had a moment of humanity once more... Their only way of living on being through Rose’s memories and through the megamycte.

(Unless that crystal theory is true and they can be revived of course.)

[lokiondisneyplus]

(The following story contains SPOILERS for the first two episodes of Marvel’s “Loki”)

The second episode of “Loki” introduced the MCU to Sophia Di Martino’s Lady Loki. Or did it?“We don’t quite have a handle on who they are yet,” director Kate Herron told TheWrap.

After the first episode of “Loki” revealed that the variant that Mobius (Owen Wilson) and the Time Variance Authority have been chasing down is another version of Loki (Tom Hiddleston) himself, the second episode ended with a major cliffhanger that it was Di Martino’s female version of the God of Mischief that was creating all sorts of havoc on the “sacred timeline."

Di Martino even wore a version of Loki’s outfit from “The Avengers” complete with the horns. But Herron said that all might not be what it seems, which seems par for the course with anything involving the Trickster God.A popular fan theory is that Di Martino is not Lady Loki but in fact Sylvie Lushton, also known as The Enchantress. In the comics, Sylvie (who has blond hair, while Loki typically sports brunette locks) is a human given special abilities by Loki that are modeled after the goddess Amora (who went by the name, you guessed it, Enchantress).

Though she’s not a normal human — she was actually created by Loki. A female Loki.This fan theory got even more legs when the Castilian Spanish version of the credits after the second episode lists Di Martino as “Sylvie” — in all other versions she’s described as “The Variant.”

Herron says we’re supposed to be just as confused as Loki is by the end of the episode as to who really is this mysterious woman. “We’re told that they are a Loki, and then the hood comes down — but are they a Loki? Are they not? We wanted to leave questions in regards to that identity at the end of this episode, and that’s definitely something that we do get into next week and beyond,” she said.

If she’s not Loki, the next question would be the same one we have about everything on this show: what’s going on? There didn’t seem to be much ambiguity when Di Martino showed up, since she was wearing what looked very much like a Loki costume, with horns and everything — which is not part of the Enchantress costume. It’s a conclusion the TVA had already jumped to as well.

If she isn’t Loki — which, if Herron is casting doubt, then she probably isn’t — then the obvious guess is that there is another Loki out there who brought Di Martino’s character into being. That Loki would be sticking to the shadows while using this woman as a decoy Loki.

We’ve already speculated that the villainous Loki is actually a future version of the show’s protagonist Loki, and we’ve got a big name actor in the cast we haven’t seen yet who fits the bill: Richard E. Grant. And if that’s the case, then the show would probably in turn be some kind of big time loop. Which brings us to the other question: why? It’s an answer we may not be able to understand until we meet that older Loki. If the character were to age up from Tom Hiddleston to Richard E. Grant, it would take thousands of years. That’s plenty of time for something dramatic to happen to him that might cause him to take drastic action like trying to create a multiverse. And since we don’t actually know for sure that there is a secret older Loki out there, we can’t really speak to his motivations.

But the idea has a lot of major potential ramifications, like conjuring mutants and the Fantastic Four into the MCU. It seems likely that Kang the Conqueror (Jonathan Majors), who looks like he could become the Thanos of the next MCU cycle, is involved somehow. In the comics, the multiversal warlord has a domain outside of time just like the TVA does, and he’s obsessed with Ravonna Renslayer, who is a judge at the TVA on “Loki.”

As for everything else, well, we’ve got a feeling that this series isn’t going to stop being a mystery-filled mindbender any time soon.

“Loki” streams Wednesdays on Disney+

[murasaki-murasame]

Thoughts on Higurashi Sotsu Ep13

The true mystery of this show is trying to figure out how to even talk about each episode without just repeating myself or talking about other parts of the franchise, lmao.

Anyway, thoughts under the cut. Plus probably spoilers for both Umineko and Ciconia.

I’m not even sure where to begin talking about the fundamental issues this show has at this point, lol. It’s easy to just say that Sotsu on it’s own is bad, but I feel like it’s highlighting the fact that right from day one there were problems with the show’s structure and it’s intentions that have just become more and more of an issue as time’s gone on.

At the very least, I think that it was a huge mistake for them to have the gun cliffhanger happen midway through Gou, and to then spend so much time on backstory stuff and answer arcs. That just cast a negative shadow over all of those arcs because everyone was just impatient to get back to the cliffhanger. At this point I think they shouldn’t have even had Nekodamashi be in Gou to begin with. If they transitioned straight from Tataridamashi to Satokowashi then you could keep the general cliffhanger of revealing that Satoko’s the culprit without making people so impatient to go back to it and see what happens afterward.

But there’s also the issues like how Satokowashi revealed everything we needed to know about the howdunnit of the mystery, or how the whole gimmick of reusing the same scenarios as the VN in order to play both sides and make it technically accessible to new fans really wrote them into a corner and forced them to spend more time on the answer arcs than they needed to.

If we at least assume that the whole story ends in this arc, I think you easily could have condensed it all into one 2-cour season if they’d just committed to aiming this at old fans.

I guess there’s still a chance we’ll get some sort of continuation, but at this point I feel like the only way to get that much more content is if it ends up mostly retreading Satokowashi from a different perspective, which might actually drive me insane, lol.

In general it just feels like we’re already at the climax of the story one way or another, and there’s not many ways to keep it going for much longer without it seeming super forced. Like, Eua and Hanyuu are having their big confrontation with each other, and now Rika and Satoko are both on the same page, so they’re going to basically be stuck in a stalemate until one of them gives up. There isn’t really any mystery left to answer aside from giving more info about what’s going on between Eua and Hanyuu, so I’d rather they just cut to the chase and not drag this out.

We also know from TV listings that a different show is going to taking over Sotsu’s time slot next season, so unless it changes time slot for some reason, we’d probably have to wait until at least January to get a continuation, and I just dunno if that’d even be worth it.

I’ve already gone over my general ideas for how I think this will end, but I still think it’s entirely possible to wrap things up in just two more episodes. At the very least, if we get another full cour out of this then that’d probably just end up only having a few more episodes of actually new content, so my point still stands, lol.

I don’t think this episode did much to change my mind about where this is going, but it did at least clarify a couple of things. Like how Eua explicitly calls Hanyuu a ‘part of her’, which means that I’m probably right about my interpretation of them being two halves of the same being. There’s still a lot of different ways they could explain it, but at this point it’d basically still just boil down to the same idea of them being two parts of the same person.

It’s also more clear now that Rika more or less didn’t really know about Satoko being the culprit until the last minute, and was starting to get flashbacks to the end of Tataridamashi. I’m not entirely sure how to feel about that. It’s kinda hard to believe that Rika wasn’t at least suspecting Satoko by that point, but I do like the implication that Rika wasn’t fully dead when Satoko arrived, since that at least feels like pay-off for Satoko being so cocky and openly monologuing about how evil she is when she thinks Rika’s dead and can’t hear her.

I guess this episode also shows that there wasn’t anything particularly special going on with how Takano decided to confess to Rika in this one specific loop, which is also kinda underwhelming. Basically it seems like it just boils down to her feeling guilty about all of the stuff she remembers doing, but it’s still kinda weird that she didn’t confess to her in any previous loops. One of the weird issues with Gou/Sotsu’s storytelling is that Rika seemingly put no real effort into trying to investigate Takano even though she remembered her being the culprit, and I think that could have been really easily resolved if there was a scene like this in Onidamashi where Takano confesses her sins to Rika and leaves the village, since that would at least give a reason for her to not try and investigate them, and to assume that somebody else is behind these new loops. They could have even just had that happen off-screen and only be shown in Oniakashi if they didn’t want to spoil new fans. It just seems like a really easy change to make that would have made Rika’s passivity and hopelessness in this series way more understandable.

I think we’re also meant to assume that Satoko reacting to the box in this episode was just her faking it, since there’s no real indication that her conscience has returned or anything. But I’m not really sure why Satoko would go out of her way to fake that, when the trap box hadn’t even come up in that timeline. Maybe it would have made more sense if we saw her inner thoughts in that scene, but it kinda feels like they had to come up with some sort of scenario where Satoko would accidentally display knowledge that only a looper would know. Compared to how she’s been almost overpowered and hyper-competent in this series compared to Rika, it has a weird vibe of her being stupid because the plot demands it, lol. Either way it just seems kinda weird and contrived.

We also ended this episode on the gun cliffhanger again, which I saw coming, but it still kinda stings, lol. Hopefully the payoff is worth it. Realistically I think Satoko will just immediately shoot Rika, and we’ll cut to them having a proper confrontation in the meta world. With how they compared it to the ‘miracle’ scene with Takano in Matsuribayashi, it’s possible that they’ll somehow stop Satoko from shooting her, but I dunno. The stuff Hanyuu said about how this ‘isn’t the world that Rika fought for’ makes me think we’re probably not gonna stick with this loop for very long anyway, so I’d rather they just cut to the chase and get to the part where the two of them fight it out in the fragment world once and for all. Which at least seems to be what that one part of the OP is teasing at.

On that note, the only other mysterious part of the OP [and the key visual] left is the older club members in new outfits, which still feels like a bit of a loose thread, but it’s entirely possible that it doesn’t really mean much. For one thing, it could be as simple as it being related to an epilogue scene back in the Matsuribayashi timeline where they’re in different outfits to the ones we saw them wear last time we saw them. Either way I don’t really think the other club members are going to be super relevant to how this all ends, so one way or another whatever that stuff is related to could still just come up in the next two episodes.

Basically the question is just how exactly the big conflicts are gonna get resolved, and what note we’ll end things on. Which also ties into the larger question of whether or not this is genuinely meant to tie into Umineko [and maybe Ciconia] like they’re indicating, or if that’s some kind of elaborate troll.

I know i’m biased, but I think all the Umineko and Ciconia stuff is totally sincere, and Ryukishi really is using this as a way to start tying the wider WTC-verse together in a more concrete way, so that’s what I’m basing my theories off of.

With that in mind, I still think this will end with Rika and Satoko officially abandoning their humanity and becoming witches together, with the sword maybe being an in-universe plot device to depict that process. And with the reveal that Eua and Hanyuu are for all intents and purposes two parts of the same person, I feel like their side of things will probably end with them merging together in a way that creates Featherine, which would at least explain why Featherine’s personality is more mild than Eua’s, and also why Bernkastel is her miko, and why Featherine’s whole name is a giant pun about Hanyuu. It’d also fit with the whole religious motif that Hanyuu has going on if she basically ‘sacrifices’ herself to neutralize Eua. It’s at least the closest I think we’ll get to seeing Eua be ‘defeated’.

And on that note, I don’t really think this will end with anyone like Eua or Satoko being used as a villain who everyone else defeats so they can go back to their happy ending, since that’s the exact sort of thing that Ryuukishi regrets doing originally, and is why we’ve gotten so many redemption arcs for people in Gou/Sotsu. So I think at most we’ll see Eua get turned into Featherine so she’s less actively hostile towards everyone else, but I think this will ultimately end with Rika and Satoko reconciling and mending their relationship.

Over on the Matsuribayashi timeline side of things, I feel like this is gonna end up paralleling Nekodamashi a bit, and we’ll find out that Satoko ended up planning to kill herself in the Saiguden, but Rika and the club will show up at the last minute and she’ll choose not to. Then we’ll probably see her and Rika talk things out properly, and maybe Satoko will find out that Satoshi woke up from his coma or whatever, and that way they’ll all still get their happy ending, while also simultaneously we can still have Rika and Satoko split off their witch selves into separate entities that become the Bern and Lambda we know in Umineko.

It’s possible they’ll do something with the idea of Satoko losing her game and being sent to a world without Rika, but that also might just not happen at all. So who knows.

If they really lean into the idea of this directly setting up for Umineko, then it’d be neat if we also see Satoko and Rika meet Ikuko in the future of the Matsuribayashi timeline.

There’s also the Ciconia teases to think about, but they seem to be going in the direction of Ciconia taking place before all this even happened, so I think that’ll be kept kinda nebulous and unexplored until Ciconia itself finishes. Ryukishi might announce a release date for phase 2 after Sotsu ends, but I think it’s way too early for anything like an anime adaptation of it. I’d rather they wait until at least after it’s finished before they do something like that.

On the other hand, Umineko’s been over for like ten years, so it’d be much easier to do something like a remake for it after this. I have a lot of thoughts about how that might go if they do that, but I’m gonna wait until Sotsu ends and then make a separate post about it.

Anyway I guess now I just have to wait and see what happens next week, lol.

[rooneywritesbest]

2020: Harley Quinn Takeover

  As the time of writing this. We are exactly one month away from the release of Birds Of Prey/ Harley Quinn the movie. The marketing for the black and red jester will officially be in full force from now on. It’s still ironic to think, and actually imagine a character who was created by the great Paul Din all the way back in 1993. When the Emmy award-winning Batman The Animated Series was still gracing the screens of fans that appealed to all ages of demographic. The jester appeared as a side character or a write-off, but fate has it has turned into one of the most popular, and influential icons of comic book media.

  Now in the early days of 2020. Harley Quinn has a successful animated series on the upcoming app of DC Universe. However many feel the platform is still finding it’s footing compared to say Netflix or Disney+. Moving on the show Harley Quinn is bloody, definitely NSFW, and only intended for viewership of mature audience status. Setting aside the preference of concern.

 The show is riddled with star-studded talent. Ranging from Kaley Cuoco from Big Bang Theory as Penny, and even Tony Hale as Doctor Psycho. 

 Even JB Smoove from Curb Your Enthusiasm as Leon. Now on this property plays one of Poison Ivy’s plants named Frank. He is sarcastic, but also able to toy and tease ivy. The interaction between the two is quite genius writing.

 There is so much to say about the cast. Alan Tudyk is a legend to be able to play as Joker with his sardonic humor, and his emotions of hatred and jealousy towards Harley. Then being able to switch into Clayface, and spin a different tone from the Clown Prince of Crime.

 The presence of the Bat still looms in Gotham with Diedrich Bader once again taking up the cowl of the Dark Knight. From his tenure on Batman Brave And The Bold. Bader still brings the same charisma of the part, and actually gives a breath of comedy due to the wacky nature of the series.

 Also can’t forget Ivy is voiced by Lake Bell, and nails everything about the character. Definite MVP for the majority of the season so far.

 Many will ask how is the dynamic between Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn. The seeds for there comic accurate relationship have definitely been planted, but at the same time, Ivy is in more of a sister role. In the show, Harley’s plot thread is that she just broke up with the Joker. Only due to Ivy stepping in and telling her to see past the guilt of stock holm syndrome. 

 Another thing to realize, Harley is trying to find Independence, and the world she inhabits is one that doesn’t take her seriously because she was a henchman or let alone female. Quinn eventually does and finds a crew of people like her. Many, who are forgotten from the world due to their appearance or moral actions. Then, Of course, there are zany side adventures, but they all loop around to the commentary of realizing how depressing the world of DC comics really is. 

 The Harley Quinn show brings a lot of that to light. Joker is abusive and treats Harley as a trophy. However, In reality, Joker doesn’t care about Harley. He only cares about his battle with Batman. Essentially the yin to his yang. 

 There is so much that this property reveals, and of course, there are tons of Easter eggs for eagle-eyed DC fans. However maybe we shouldn’t notice the colorful costumes, but the emotional state that these fictional characters inhabit through the actors bringing them to life.

 See the thing I started to realize is that every episode of this freshman season has a purpose or goal of sorts. The answer is to understand a moral or fact about life

 Just like Birds Of Prey with the title of the film being Emancipation. Harley is seeking to be her own woman. She longs to identity as her own self. Not just someone seeking refuge and acclaim as Joker’s punching bag. Huntress is looking to atone for her sins, and Black Canary is really kept in the shadows with a lot being kept under wraps.

 At this period of time, I can only guess and predict. However, one thing I can state and bring to light is that the DCEU is creatively groundbreaking due to the ingenuity of aesthetic. I truly feel that DC has found a way to compete with the mouse. The key is doing films that have there own identity, and direction from the mind of visionary directors. Todd Philips opened the door with Joker. Now the blueprint lies on the table let’s see what Cathy Yan does with Birds of Prey releasing Feb 7th this year.

 Also, remember if you want to see Harley Quinn take deep shade at the DC Universe while also revealing many hidden layers of ethos. Tune in every Friday on The DC Universe app.

 “Remember 2020 is the year of Harley Quinn, and this is her world. We’re just living in it”

[youarejesting]

Quarantine.32

[Masterlist] Editor: [Yoongisauce] Pairing: BTS x reader Friends2Lovers Genres: friendship, drama, romance SLOWEST OF BURNS. until the anticipation kills us all… Rating: PG-13 and above Summary: Your brother works with a few BigHit dance teams and whilst having permission to accompany him at work the city shuts down banning anyone from stepping outside for a whole WEEK while they disinfect the streets. If you step outside you might get arrested, shot or poisoned by the chemicals they are emitting through the city. Words: 1.9k Announcement: This is the closing chapter of ARC 1 ‘Fog’ So of course it had to be a big one.

[Part 1]  [Part 31] [Part 33] [Tag Yourself Here]

Seokjin sat beside your bed drifting in and out of consciousness, watching the rise and fall of your chest. At first, it was hard to look at you, your features strained and obviously in pain, but as the night rolled over to the day you seemed almost peaceful. Cheeks warming into a soft peach hue. There was life in you yet.

He watched a sleek ginger cat walk through the open clinic door and jump onto the end of the bed. Its tiny bell tinkled. Seokjin sat up, ready to move the feline before it had a chance to hurt you.

“Leave the cat, just watch.” The soldier in the neighboring bed smiled at Seokjin. The cat gently walked up the bed and nestled by your injured thigh and started purring. “Cat’s purrs are said to help the healing process.”

“Mister Kim, I think you should get in contact with your friends before they worry themselves further,” Doctor Chang called from the door. He had showered, combed his hair and even shaved his shadow of a beard. He looked more respectable in fresh clean clothes and his white uniform coat. 

Seokjin realized the tight feeling he had in his chest. It all made sense; he missed the boys deeply and wished to just embrace them and recharge mentally.

“Thank you for last night. Here is your jacket,” The doctor smiled handing over the folded outerwear. Seokjin tried not to grow bashful at the appreciative words, and picked up the walkie talkie ready to contact his friends. His phone now had service above ground but had run out of battery.

With a small breath, he spoke clearly into the walkie, “This is Kim Seokjin, uh… I am uh trying to get in contact with BigHit”

“Kim Seokjin!” a voice called and he knew that tone, it was a fan. It only took a few minutes for the radio to sound off a mess of voices calling for him and announcing their love for him. The military, who were now in the area dealing with the gangs, began scolding these fans for misusing the emergency radios.

“This is Kim Namjoon, calling for Kim Seokjin, are you okay? Where are you?”

“Namjoon, I made it. I am safe. We are fine.”

“Mister Kim, we have been made aware of your situation with our more secure radio channel. We will send some men out to collect you and take you back to your company when the area is secured.”

“Ah, thank you,” he smiled, turning to see the soldier in his bed with radio in hand. 

“Hyung, let’s not use the radio’s cause we are now trending on twitter.” 

“Okay, my phone is out of battery but I’ll try to find some way to charge it.”

Feeling like perhaps things were looking up, Seokjin headed back to your bedside, seeing you stir momentarily. You were mumbling about shooting someone and he knew the memories must have been haunting you.

Taking your hand in his, he wondered when he would see your sparkling eyes open once more and gaze upon him.

~

All the boys had been present for Seokjin’s news and they were cheering and hugging each other. They had deciphered the message earlier when the oldest stressed the word other. They hoped that the message they received that night had indeed just been distorted and that you hadn’t actually been injured.

“Hyung they are safe!” Jimin grinned as he and Taehyung jumped circles around Namjoon, “Jin-Hyung said they are okay.”

Namjoon received a message calling him to speak with a few of the higher-ups. Looking at the boys in the midst of celebration, he quickly excused himself, catching Jungkook’s eye on the way out.

What did they want to see him about? He knew they were already in trouble for speaking over the radio. The fans and social media were going wild with theories of what was happening and he was too scared to even peak at the damage.

The elevator ride was, as always, slow and kind of stuffy but once he reached the third floor from the top, he sighed. The air was so cool and clean. Pulling his sleeves down and smoothing his unruly hair he approached the reception.

“Ah Kim Namjoon-ssi, please follow me to the meeting room.” He followed a thin young man in a suit to an elaborate meeting room designed for at least thirty board members to be present. But today? There was a single chair at the side of the long table.

The young man turned on the thin laptop, set up the headset, and selected CEO Bang Si-Hyuk icon on the screen. Namjoon smiled politely, trying not to appear guilty in front of the CEO. 

“Good day. I heard you have made quite a commotion late this morning. There are magazines and social media outlets asking ‘Where is Jin?’ and they want a statement as to why he is outside of the company building, who he is with and why he needs a military escort. What are you expecting me to tell the press?”

“Well– we can state that Jungkook dislocated his shoulder and the two went to the clinic together. And now he needs an escort back as we were informed there are some violent groups in the area that have been causing trouble.”

“As long as you know that this is a warning– if you do something like this again and put your images in jeopardy it will be a breach of contract. I don’t want to have to penalize anyone and I definitely don’t want to remove anyone from the band.”

“Yes sir, understood,” Namjoon sighed brushing his palms down his face.

“I would like regular updates on this female that seems to be causing trouble within the group. None of this was happening before you met her and I hope you aren’t thinking of breaking our dating policy. We have allowed you to have one night stands but we don’t want to cause any more scandals.” Bang Si-Hyuk looked comfortable in his home, but the dull light in his eyes showed he was put out by the latest internet exposure. “I will send out the statement. You boys know I don’t want to be the bad guy. I am trying to do what is best for you.”

“We understand sir, I will speak to the others and remind them of our obligations”

“Good man, keep me in the loop and I will speak to you soon.”

~ 

Seokjin woke up with a start. There was a commotion in the clinic; he could see people that were badly injured. He walked around to see if anyone needed help. People were on the floor, all pink and blistered, gasping for breath. “Doctor Chang! What happened?”

“The building had a leak– they all have serious chemical burns and poisoning from the gas.” Doctor Chang sighed, “There are too many of them; the hospital is filled and they have already sent some to nearby health centers but there aren’t enough beds. Can you pass me the saline bags behind you?” 

Seokjin handed them over, becoming more concerned. “We have to find these patients beds,” The doctor said, stacking more items onto a trolley.

“They can have mine. Doc, is there anything I can do?” A lethargic voice spoke softly. Seokjin turned so fast he felt his neck pop loudly. “My bed is free.”

“No! You were shot,” Seokjin said and you sighed, “I slept for a long time. I am fine, let me give my bed up. I am recovering and they are suffering, let me give them some comfort.”

The place was packed wall to wall and after some grueling work and care to the injured, everyone seemed to be taken care of. Multiple soldiers arrived announcing that they would be escorting Seokjin back to the company. He looked surprised to see you dressed in a suit as well.

“Why are you dressed?”

“I am coming back with you. I want to be comfortable somewhere quiet and dark. There are no more beds– I would just get in the way if I stay any longer. I will be on bed rest at the company, so it will be fine.” 

Seokjin saw the desperation in your eyes at the idea of leaving the clinic and nodded softly. “I have antibiotics and painkillers and I can come back when I need the drain removed. The government says they are going to stop the fog so it won’t be as dangerous to walk to the clinic and back.”

Reluctantly agreeing, the two of you made the final trek to the company. Seokjin held your hand the whole way. He could see you getting tired from walking, trying to mask the pain in your thigh. He lifted you up onto his back, letting you rest your head in the crook of his shoulder.He heard your breathing even out and knew you had fallen asleep,  your exhausted body still recovering. 

You arrived at the Big Hit building and he set you down on the pavement, smiling at you as you yawned behind your visor. The fog was getting lighter as the day dragged on.

The building had just opened the doors, when Seokjin saw something pass the corner of his eye in the fading fog. He saw Thomas and the boys waiting in the lobby waving at you both, Taehyung and Hoseok with happy tears in their eyes. “Come on let’s go inside.”

Seokjin looked down at you. The smile on your face from seeing everyone again had him feeling warm and fuzzy; he wanted to hold you and kiss you in ways friends did not. He wanted to show you how much you meant to him and he knew his band members wanted the same.

Placing his hand delicately to the curve of your waist, he moved to your side, “You are so beautiful.” 

You blushed, cheeks reddening as you looked up at him. Everything seemed so surreal at that moment; the glow of your cheeks seemed to light up your face inside the visor, eyes sparkling brightly. That is until– the visor splattered red.

It all happened so fast– there was a noise that echoed in his ear, loudly ringing out through the street. He watched your body fall like a rag doll. Loud popping sounds continued going off around him.

Jin rolled you onto your back and saw a bloodied hole in the side of your headpiece. Blood pooled out from your head. Your body was lifeless, eyes no longer contained their sparkle. 

Everything happened so unexpectedly, he turned away from your dead body and proceeded to vomit onto the sidewalk. What happened to the smiling girl from just a few minutes ago. Where did he go wrong? 

Seokjin could register several voices screaming hysterically; Captain Won-Shik pulled Seokjin away from your corpse, dragging him safely inside. The captain shouted about tracking down every single gang member before running back onto the street to continue the search for any hidden gunmen.

Seokjin looked across the room at Taehyung who was crying so hard it didn’t sound human. That’s when he heard a very distinct meow and something soft brush his cheek.

Eyes shooting open, Seokjin was face to face with the ginger cat who meowed once more, rubbing its soft cheeks against his. He felt how wet his cheeks were and knew he had been crying.

[Part 1]  [Part 31] [Part 33] [Tag Yourself Here]

Please tell me if the tags work or not, I am still working with them.

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[thessaliah]

Epic of Remnants between set up foreshadowing and clean up duty

Epic of Remnants (or part 1.5) is an awkwardly inserted anthology that serves as a 'breather' adventure between the two big crisis and enemies of part 1 and part 2. While it undoubtedly introduces important key members to Chaldea for part 2 (Musashi focus in one and Sherlock Holmes joins Chaldea in another), it can be skipped so it's treated as an additional backstory at best. It's curious how despite this, it's treated like a sidestory unnecessary for the main story log to continue. I think the reason is because Epic of Remnants doesn't focus on a Chaldea member, Mash is demoted to a side character, and rather the focus becomes contained to a Servant of the chapter without overachieving Chaldea people story to tell with Mash's connection and bonds (part 1 with Roman, part 2 first half with Team A, and now with Olgamarie and, if you follow that theory, possibly  Professor Lev). Nonetheless, it provides a cleanup duty and a set up for the next part. The cleanup duty with the pillar demons that escaped and threaten, in various fashion, the world, is pretty straightforward to explain. But what about the setup? I'll be concise and short, so there are details that could escape my attention because I don't feel like reading those chapters again. You are all free to add things I missed.

Let's begin with Agartha and Shinjuku, the first two chapters and seemly chapters that aren't connected to part 2. Seemly. Both chapters have a very similar theme: an invasion from fiction, fiction becomes real, reality can be deformed with fantasy, etc. The creation of Phantoms, fusing fictional beings to materialize their existence (or combine them with the ‘real’ ones), the existence of Agartha, the plan to drop a fantasy place to mess with the state of the world, the assigned roles forced onto Servants rewritten to be different. All those themes are important to part 2. Like Holmes joining Chaldea and his quest is about the thin line between 'fact' and 'fiction' and what is real and what isn't, in an interlude where the pruning phenomena is brought, as is the small fragile balance between the Age of Men and the Age of Gods that was left behind.

Skipping to Salem, the last one, it also deals with how superstition can be real or at least made real, the existence of the "evil gods" is ambiguous at best. We can call them gods of another universe (like the machine gods of Olympus or the Servant-verse) but their existence is far less tangible. We have a place that is isolated god-less soil to make it the perfect land for the god to descend, and a girl being the priestess and the god at the same time. Also the same horror happened over and over again, as if in a loop. These could be setups for the priestess and the god who are Beast VII, although the parallels are not quite the same because the nature and origin of it are completely different, it does require a certain ground to materialise, and priestess and god are one of the same deep down. Queen of Sheba's meeting Solomon stage play is also relevant. Some Japanese fans analysed the riddles are foreshadowing for part 2, specifically the last one, is about the Shadow Border. If you follow the Lev theory, he was brought up here in a less negative light, as the reason why the Queen of Sheba was summoned to help with Salem.

CCC, the Extra chapter introduced into an event, brings up the shady nature of the Animusphere family experiments as backdrop of what happens with the collab characters. The Counter Force dispatched Emiya Alter not to deal with Kiara, but to shut that place for good with those experiments using artificial (?) children for rayshifting. Note here two things: one that Zepar drops that Flauros reported this place as one of the causes for the unobservable zone (usually how Fuyuki Singularity is called) and the other is that there was another 'loop' (like Salem) of Grail war that run due to artificial simulation thing. This artificial simulation thing is extremely similar to Mooncell.

Finally, Shimousa doesn't just introduce to plot-relevant characters like Ashiya Douman, Muramasa (two apostles of the God, even if Muramasa wasn't in the introduction), and Musashi. But also set up what will happen to the planet via Amakusa rambling about the root of fantasy dropping from the sky. Shimousa is a pseudo parallel world, instead of a pseudo singularity. In other words, it's a proto-Lostbelt. If other works foreshadow more or less themes this one explores the new setting and even introduces the “God of another celestial body.” And leaves the question, where does it take place that is Guda’s soul/consciousness only that’s taken. The prison tower, acknowledged as happening in a similar fashion by the plot, was a hell that trapped souls, so it wasn’t a material plane, but what about Shimousa? 

Key themes:

Fiction becomes real. 

Fantasy invades reality. 

A priestess and a god that are one. 

A ship (country) which doesn’t stop for anything in a journey. 

Simulations and loops. 

Animusphere’s family secrets. 

A pseudo Parallel World. 

A “God of a different star.”

(Why do I highlight the tension between reality and fiction? Because the simulations Olga and Kirschtaria went through -we have a peek to Olga’s in Moonlight Lostroom- and because of the possibility the Lostbelts history is all from simulation/fabricated by Chaldea equipment). 

[sammysreelreviews]

Counting Down The 10 Most Shocking Moments From My Favorite TV Shows

So I just finished Jane the Virgin and it inspired me to make a list of moments in television that had me fucking SHOOK. Maybe some other things happened in the show that were just as crazy but these are the moments that affected me personally. This list was so spontaneous but it might be my favorite one cause it was a nice trip down memory lane. Any who, here are the moments that have fucked me up along the years! 

WARNING: LOTS AND LOTS OF SPOILERS!!!

10. Gossip Girl: The Dark Prince

Let’s be clear Gossip Girl stopped being the show it was by season 4 by adding insane story lines but one that was realistic was Queen B marrying a real life prince! Although there are some minor hiccups Blair finally has the dream wedding she always wanted. Unfortunately everything comes crashing down when Louis basically tells her that she means nothing to him and the marriage is now just for show. This SHOOK me cause Louis was such a good guy until that exact moment. Ugh the moment he whispered those vile words to Blair her heart dropped and so did mine.

9. Elite: So who’s actually dead?

From the beginning it was clear that one of the promiscuous teens of Elite was going to die it’s just not who you’d expect! In the first episode you find out that it’s none other than Marina! She was such a big part in the first episode I didn’t think her character would be the one to kick the bucket. Yes I am aware that the real mystery of the show is who’s the murderer but Marina being dead threw me for a loop.

8. On My Block: The Quinceañera from Hell.

On My Block is supposed to be funny and it was until the last fucking episode of season one. Ruby decides to throw his crush Olivia a Quinceañera and everything goes smoothly, she even gets to face time her parents that got deported, until Cesar’s past comes to crash the party. Let me explain. Cesar finally joined his brother’s gang and had the job of executing Latrelle who’s from an opposing gang. Cesar is too sweet for his own good and lets him live. Unfortunately Latrelle shows up to Olivia’s Quinceañera, uninvited, and fires at Cesar but hits Ruby and Olivia in the process. In the end of the episode two ambulances are on their way to the hospital and ones lights go off indicating one of them has died. At the beginning of season two we finally find out that Olivia has passed which is sad and like talk about the worst birthday party ever!

7. Pretty Little Liars: Boo!

There were literally 100 different A’s on this god forsaken show but the final A reveal was definitely the best. Spencer and Ezra have been kidnapped by A in a weird underground whatever thing and Spencer wakes up to her reflection only it’s not her reflection ITS HER TWIN. The elite PLL fans like myself always had theories of Spencer having a twin but when it actually happened I couldn’t believe my eyes. When Alex puts her hand down and says “boo!”... chills literal fucking chills.

6. Vampire Diaries: Dead girls walking.

I could honestly make a list of the top ten shocking moments from the Vampire Diaries alone but this one had 15 year old me shaking in my Ugg boots. Jeremy’s first love Vicki died in season one, which was like WILD for 2009 let me tell you, and his other lover Anna also died. In the season two finale we see two shadows walking around following Jeremy in his house and they’re none other than Vicki and Anna looking straight at Jeremy and even speaking to him. At this point in the show people coming back from the dead was unheard of and this is why it beat everything else.

5. Dark: What REALLY happened that night?

Ok so Dark has a lot of WTF moments like the entire show is a total mindfuck but in season 2 they answered a question and I was not prepared for the answer. Let’s back track realllll quick. Mikkel goes missing in the woods one night and no one finds him BUT Mikkel is alive and well he’s just in the year 1986! In the cave he went through there was a wormhole that took him to the past but the question was, how the fuck did he even end up there!? In the last episode of season two Jonas, Mikkel’s son (I know it’s confusing) goes back in time to stop Mikkel from disappearing to make everything right. Jonas talks to his dad, adult Mikkel, and Mikkel drops the bomb that Jonas was the one to lead him to the fucking wormhole in the first place!!! Everything about this show is absolutely insane but I mean this shit was INSANE. I literally could not believe what I was hearing and honestly neither could Jonas.

4. Jane the Virgin: Have a nice day bae!

Michael begins his day going to take a test and he doesn’t come back. I am so team Michael just so y’all know so I loved the flashbacks of the fair with Jane this episode. What I DIDN’T like was the end of this episode. When Michael “died” I dead ass did not watch the rest of season 3 until it was streaming on Netflix. I sobbed so bad and then at the end of the episode when Jane gets the phone call that Michaels “dead” WOW that shit HURT. Thankfully I decided to keep watching the show cause at the season 4 finale Michael is alive and well but has a little amnesia. I literally will never forgive the writers for ripping my heart out and stomping on it.

3. American Horror Story: Running in circles.

Violet tried to kill herself and Tate saves her by making her throw up except, she didn’t actually survive. Violet is depressed and stays home and it’s not until she tries to leave the house do you realize she’s actually been dead for a couple episodes. Its heartbreaking cause she’ll be stuck in that house forever but the moment you see her dead corpse was absolutely disgusting and heartbreaking at the same time.

2. Skins: Where’s Cook’s main hoe?

When Skins came back for a 7th season wrapping up the lives of Effy, Cassie, and Cook I thought we were gonna get some closure but what I got from Cook’s episodes was very unexpected. There’s honestly a lot going on in Skins Rise but Cook’s second episode has him facing off his psychotic boss Louie. Let me give a little backstory. Cook deals drugs for Louie but Louie made Cook drive his girlfriend Charlie around. Cook being Cook fucks Charlie while simultaneously cheating on his own girlfriend Emma which makes it super awkward when the three of them runaway together to get away from a psychotic Louie. Before Cook absolutely beats the shit out of Louie he’s in the woods looking for Emma and he fucking finds her in a clearing HANGING on a tree!!! Like WHAT THE FUCK!!! Skins has never been THAT brutal and I honestly think it was the most jaw dropping moment that ever happened on the show. God I love Skins but I did NOT love that death like can my baby Cook just be happy!?!

1. Degrassi: The Next Generation: A night to forget.

I was 13 the first time I got my heart broken, the perpetrator, Degrassi: The Next Generation. I was OBSESSED with this show I watched it from the very beginning. JT was my literal MAN like I loved him so much and when they CRUELLY killed him off I legit didn’t want to go to school the following Monday. JT dying is number one because it was my first big TV death and I’ll never forget it along with Liberty’s blood curdling screams.

[skizzlers]

A list of every Sonic game I've played in the order I like them because I couldn't sleep at 3am. (Didn't include Sonic Advance 1-3 because it's been too long since I've played it. Also 90% of these have good soundtracks so I didn't really touch on it.)

1. Sonic Mania

All time favorite because I'm a very nostalgic person and this game feels like a love-letter to my childhood. Every detail is thought of, it feels like you're playing every side-scrolling Sonic game at once!

2. Sonic the Hedgehog 3

First Sonic game I really remember playing. I adored Tails (still do!) And I used to fly around all the levels to see what Sonic couldn't reach. Also the save feature and ability to re-visit levels was super sweet!

3. Sonic Adventure 2

My favorite 3d Sonic game. I love the different gameplay styles that come with the different characters, and THE CHAO GARDEN!!! The bosses are a little weird, considering you're kinda beating yourself when you switch sides? (Knuckles vs Rouge, Shadow vs Sonic) Also this game has a sick soundtrack!

4. Sonic the Hedgehog 2

This game was much easier for me to get the hang of as a kid compared to the original. Took me years to beat because of the lack of a save feature though, and I never got past the third special stage. Overall just generally fun to play! You really feel like a speedy blue hedgehog, and the stages are memorable.

5. Sonic CD

Never really got to play this one until my teens. Haven't beat it yet, haven't had the time. I like the added challenge of making good futures too instead of just g o f a s t. The levels are a bit more complex and more puzzling than your other 2d Sonic games, but not frustratingly so like in the original.

6. Sonic Generations

Ironicly enough this was my first introduction to the modern boost mechanic. I liked how the stages worked in both styles, and the hub-world is fun to jump around in and isn't confusing at all. Also, I like collecting things in videogames, and there is a bit of that required to progress, although Cream beating my ass in the chao levels is frustrating to say the least.

7. Sonic Adventure

I understand this is an old videogame but the graphics make it a little hard to take seriously. When I know where I am supposed to go the stages are fun but who the fuck thought fishing would be fun in a Sonic game? Big's entire character is like someone sat down and said, "do you know what Sonic isn't? Slow and tedious! Let's add that to the game!" Also I like the variety in character options and story perspectives. (Not to mention classic memes like Knuckles' oh no)

8. Sonic Spinball

Another classic! Few but interesting levels. Not much else to say really, I liked the text commentary.

9. Sonic 3d Blast

I've noticed a lot of people say this is one of the worst Sonic games but I enjoy it! Like I said earlier, I like collecting things though.

10. Sonic Riders

I always kinda sucked at this game. Might've been more fun if I wasn't a solo gamer however. I liked the battle royale mode better than the main game to be honest. I like the character variety and the differing skill sets, and the stages themselves are fun to ride through and mess around with but the cpus are t o u g h. I would like this game a bit better if you could adjust the difficulty.

11. Sonic & Knuckles

I loved Mushroom Hill Zone and how it phases through the seasons, but I always died in Flying Battery Zone, and if I didn't Sandopolis zone would usually drain my will to go on with it's looping segments and light gimmik. I really enjoy being able to climb walls and access different spaces with Knuckles though! And the special stages were pretty fun.

12. Sonic the Hedgehog

Ah, the game that started it all. Classic. Green Hill Zone is fun as can be even without the spindash, but Marble Zone really takes all of that speedy fun to a halt with its small spaces and lava pits. Don't even get me started on goddamn Labrinth Zone... nothing kills my drive to continue the game than that zone. Aside from the two afformentioned zones, the rest are pretty fun!

13. Shadow the Hedgehog

I feel like this game is a bit underrated because it stars Sir Edgelord, but I enjoyed it a lot! The style and feel reminded me a lot of Sa2, and I like how your actions can affect your alignment and your ending. Unfortunantly my copy was badly scratched and I could only achieve a handful of the endings.

14. Sonic Unleashed

I only recently got this game. It's ok. I liked playing the normal stages as Sonic, but I wasn't a huge fan of the werehog stages, they just don't feel like Sonic to me. They're growing on me a little but that goddamn fight music is annoying as fuck. Sonic games are known for good music, but what do we get anytime you touch an enemy at night? Bland generic fight music that sounds like it belongs in the Incredibles or James Bond. It doesn't fit sonic at all. If something as simple as the battle music was better, I'd like this game a lot more. The werehog stages in general just don't feel like Sonic. They're slow and focus on brute strength. They could have just had Knuckles fill that role. I like a little-bit of the puzzle solving but again - Tails. Sonic doesn't need to do everything.

15. Sonic Heroes

Wow, Heroes at the bottom of my list? Shocker! I know this is a more popular one but I'm just not a fan. In theory it sounds like a good idea to handle teams of characters with different abilities, but I prefer to control these characters one at a time. I don't like constantly needing to shift between characters just to progress in one stage. I must confess, the game is growing on me however.

[magaprima]

Part 3 Episode 8

Wait SABRINA IS TRAPPED IN THE STONE IN BETWEEN LILITH AND LUCIFER. PARENT VIBES AGAIN?? LIKE GO TO HELL LUICIFER, BUT I’M HERE PARENT VIBES FROM LILITH. So they’ve all be trapped there decades apparently? And Sabrina has gone back in time to save herself? Wait, they’re stuck in a loop? Wait, what’s HAPPENING???

So lots of time has passed and now Sabrina is free she’s finding hell in chaos, because in the story at the beginning we’re told the Pagans fought off caliban an took over earth for themselves and everyone is dead?

Hell was invaded by the archangel michael and all the devils are gone and everything’s gone to shit and Sabrina is walking around where everyone is fucking dead, including Salem. 

But not Ambrose he managed to make a safe haven out of the Kinkle mines. He still has the time egg so we might be able to undo all this I think

Ooh big confrontation with Blackwood, but I’m less enthused about this episode because Lilith, Zelda, Hilda aren’t alive at this point, so it’s just Sabrina fighting alone and I always find that less entertaining for me.

And now Blackwood has snapped the necks of Sabrina and Ambrose but oh no he’s not he’s trapped in a dream by Batibat because Sabrina released her on him. Nice tactic

So Sabrina has done a Back to the Future and is warning everyone to fuck off quickly before Blackwood arrives

Also Sabrina is realising Hell is pulling her away from what matters so maybe Lilith’s unborn child shall rule unchallenged? That would be nice

Zelda has been saved and has woke up and apparently has the answer to everything. But Hilda hasn’t resurrected from the Cain Pit and Zelda is insistent because she’s seen the future and knows Hilda lives

EVERYONE IS AROUND THE CAIN PIT CALLING ON THE TRIPLE GODDESS AND IS SAYING THAT SATAN IS A LESSER GOD, THAT THE TRIPLE GODDESS IS THE ULTIMATE DEITY OMG YES. wait, hang on zelda, Lilith told you Satan wasn’t a God. So don’t say this is new info. Yep, they’re calling on Hecate, the ultimate of Witch Goddesses. I am loving this scene because it’s the magic I was raised with and I am LIVING for it. 

Zelda is asking for powers from Hecate rather than from Satan! OMFG she’s game changing. I am loving this because it’s saying witches were blinded by Satan’s trickery and promises and turned their back on Hecate, the original one to give them power and I am just YES I AM HERE FOR THIS. I think even Lilith is here for this, especially as I headcanoned that my Lilith got her powers from Hecate and not Satan, so this fits in VERY nicely with my headcanon theories

Sabrina is defending Ms Wardwell about the shooting Zelda thing, so I think she presumes that Lucifer was involved, 

THEY’RE PUTTING ALL OF GREENDALE UNDER A SLUMBER SPELL LIKE FREAKING SLEEPING BEAUTY

So Robin has brought Mary to the Pagans for the sacrifice, but I suspect, since he was just with Sabrina etc, this is all a trick

Mary is calling out a lot of religious christian stuff much like the scottish policeman did in the Wicker Man. I feel this is too much of a reference not to be on purpose. And now Mary is being eaten by the Green Man, absorbed. But I’m not buying any of this. I don’t think it’s really Mary

The Green Man is rotting because that ain’t no virgin. So it’s not Mary. Ah, it’s the disease and decay witch!!! Glamoured as Mary. And Sabrina wiped the real Mary of the memories she was given and the whispers she was given by Lucifer

Zelda sending everyone to drive every last Pagan Monster from the place. The coven are going crazy for it. Having a grand old time

Hilda has caught up with the woman who turned her into a spider and caused her to kill Dr C. So she’s made the poppet and she is going to torture the fuck out of her. You go, Hilda, you go! And then she snaps the bitch’s neck.

Omg, Prudence just full on killed the God Pan. Hardcore

The Aunts getting upset about Sabrina having to be Queen of Hell. 

OMG SABRINA HAS GONE AND SAVED HERSELF FROM THE TIME LOOP SO THERE’S TWO OF THEM. SHE’S GOING TO HAVE ONE IN HELL AND ONE ONE EARTH???

I feel this second power-hungry Sabrina is gonna be the daughter Lilith never had, haha. 

‘Lilith in your last act as Regent, will you prepare our young Queen?’ Last act as Regent, but definitely not last day in power. 

DR C IS ALIVE. HILDA DIDN’T MURDER HIM. SHE JUST COCOONED HIM. 

However, Dorcas and Agatha are both dead. Prudence found them butchered in a cupboard. The poor woman is broken and she thinks if she’d killed Blackwood instead of bringing it back none of this would have happened, which is true. NONE of it would have happened, because Lucifer couldn’t have jumped. She blames Ambrose because he’s the one that stopped her killing him

So now Zelda is running the Order of Hecate. And Mambo Marie says there’s a bigger evil coming and they need to prepare to fight it. Zelda just asks if that means she’sn staying and then they snog.

‘you’re the glory and pride of satan, the face of the hell bound hordes. Strike down your enemies by tooth and by claw, bathe your skin in their blood. Every Queen must be made battle ready, every girl must prepare for war. Gird your loins, let nothing touch you let no MAN hold power over you. And when they cry out for mercy, the Moringstar must show them none’ Lilith is telling Sabrina while she gets her ready for her coronation. This sounds more supportive than resentful and like she’s teaching her. I’m hoping this means that we are going to continue the Satanic Godmother role thing, especially as Lilith is getting her ready in a very gentle way. There’s definite maternal energy there which I HOPE gets explored

“Your crown and throne await you, first lady of pandemonium, maiden of shadows, behold the Queen, Sabrina Morningstar” Sabrina puts her hands on her shoulders there and it’s all touching and tactile and there’s definitely something supportive and familial there. And Lilith is carrying Sabrina’s sibling, so that does make them family officially now. Now THAT part I like.

But I do think having two Sabrinas is a major cop out from the writers. Also Lilith has way better hell fashion going on. And I don’t like the implication that this means we’re not going to have hell in the show anymore, which means we won’t have Lilith in the show anymore, especially as Sabrina openly said ‘we’ll never see them again. Lucifer, Lilith, Caliban....who needs them?’. Well, I need them. One of them. Bring them back.

 But then Sabrina has created a time paradox so shit will hit the fan hugely. So I imagine Lilith will have to sort shit out again. Ambrose is like what if the aunts find out but Sabrina says they never go to hell. He says what about Lucifer and she says he’s such a narcissist he won’t notice and then Ambrose has the killer argument

‘What about Lilith? Lilith notices EVERYTHING’. He’s not wrong. Sabrina even admits it

“Lilith could be a problem, yeah....”

So I presume that means Lilith is gonna be back

Sabrina 2 is being crowned and Lilith and Lucifer do look like parents waiting for her. But they kind of are, because this is secondary sabrina, she’s the Morningstar, not the Spellman so....? But Lilith is so going to notice this isn’t the usual Sabrina. Sabrina-obssessed with her mortal friends- Spellman spending 24/7 in Hell? Yeah Lilith is gonna click

And now Blackwood is doing something with Agatha and his kids, because Agatha apparently isn’t dead. Wait he’s summoning ELDRITCH HORRORS TO USE HIM AS THEIR VESSEL??????

the beginning of the end? The end of all things??? Right, Lilith, get that fucking mark off him right the hell now

[jellyfishdooter]

LISTEN

I HAVE VERY LOW IMPULSE CONTROL

In spite of the current community fire I give you this Rise of the Guardians AU

Character explanations/ mini story under the cut

So after watching Rise of the Guardians (one of my fav animated movies) I got the idea for an AU where the egos are like the Guardians of the JSE community.

Their designs are based off/ inspired by the characters in the movie but instead of just drawing the egos as those characters, I more so let them inspire re-creations of their outfits/ powers

Chase: Jack Frost- Guardian of Family

In the beginning he doesn’t see himself as a guardian. He’s a screw up, a washout. But even through his depression he tries to make others happy before himself. He does this by having fun and trying to get those in the community to join in with him! It’s later on that he realizes he has a part to play and that his is making sure everyone is still together as one big community. He’s here to remind us that in troubling times that we all have each other- that we’re all family.

JBM: Santa- Guardian of Hope

Being the super hero of the group, it’s JBM’s job to protect the innocent and give off the appearance of being something people can depend upon- someone who can protect everyone from danger. He helps the community become strong and makes them laugh along the way (even if he has to make a fool of himself to do it, he loves our smiles)- he gives them hope.

Marvin: Tooth Fairy- Guardian of Creativity (Sams: small Tooth Fairies)

Much like tooth fairy in the movie, it’s Marvin’s job to collect fanart/ fanworks and store them so when the community forgets all that they have built together, he shows them. Not only that, he inspires the content creators and represents their passion for their art. And it’s what he protects. (Along with the help of the little Sams who are the ones who actually collects and re-distributes it so everyone can see what they’ve made.)

Jameson: Sandman- Guardian of Positivity

Arguably one of the most important guardians of the community, JJ is there to remind people the importance of PMA. In his own quiet ways, he encourages the members to think on the bright side- or is just there to give hugs and be there for them. Whenever someone is in such a dark place, he uses his powers to show them that they still have so much potential and that they’re not alone. He give them a light in a dark place to hold onto. (Yes, he uses sign language AND the sand symbols for those who don’t understand sign)

Schneep: Bunny- Guardian of Health

Being the good doctor of the group, he’s there to remind the community to take care of themselves. Yes he may be a lil aggressive in the way he gives out advice, but for a lot of people they need their butts a little kicks to get them moving to help themselves. But not only physical health, he’s also willing to sit down and talk about mental health and analyze what the problem is/ works to help you understand how to improve yourself.

Anti: The Boogieman- “Guardian” of Fear and Chaos

And last but not least, our dear little firestarter. For so LONG he’s waited, waited to be in the spotlight. Before the other egos show up it was just him and it was delicious. He had so much power as he fed off of our fears, insecurities, and of course the headcanons and theories we made about him. But then Jack HAD to make more egos and fill the community with positivity and light. So he sunk back and waited for his opportunity- he waited for his powers to grow strong in the background. And with all of the hints being dropped and community fueling the fire in a continuous positive feedback loop, he gains more and more strength every day. He reminds the community not everything is peachy and rosy. That there are awful things in the world and how you’re just a tiny ripple in a storming ocean. Insignificant. He doesn’t want to stamp out the community- that would be counterproductive. No he just wants them to feel fear for the channel- that nothing is safe anymore- at any turn he could be there. And with that everything always comes back to him.

And sooner or later, the others will fade away...

Extra Headcanons/ Tidbits:

Before they were all guardians they were other people. (TW: death and suicide mentions) -Anti was a reckless criminal and one night his “friends” betrayed him, leaving him behind which wound up being the end of him. They were running from the police and were trying to jump a tall fence when his comrades left the struggling man behind to take the fall. He did in more ways than one. -JBM was just a regular dude, but he sacrificed himself to save a kid getting hit by a bus in the city. Even though he was about to die he kept asking if the kid was okay. The medics told him he saved them and that’s all he needed to hear. -Marvin was a street magician in his time. He did tricks to cheer up people sitting on the sidewalk/ sitting alone and talked to them about their passions. Later the same people would come back and tell him about the new job they got or the current project they were working on. He pulled a teen off the side of a bridge and a local cop mistook it for him attacking her and.. well.. things escalated quickly -Henrik was an upstanding surgeon. He saved lives every day in his career. Even though his wife and child left him, he worked every day to become a better doctor and continued to save people. And after the surgeries he would personally counsel the patients to make sure they were okay physically and mentally. But one day.. they didn’t have a matching organ for the patient on standby.. and he knew he matched the credentials. -Jameson was a small movie star in his time. And when he wasn’t filming he went down in quiet to lift the spirits of homeless children and teens. He would put on small performances and then go around to each of them and comfort them if they said it was okay. He made sure by the end of his visit they were all in high spirit. But one day the filming studio caught fire. The smoke damaged his lungs so he couldn’t call out before the building collapsed. -And Chase... He had a loving wife and two kids who he cared for with his life. He vowed to himself to protect them, even though his wife turned into a bitch as the years went on. One night they were walking home from a day at the amusement park and Chase got jumped with his kids nearby. The criminal threatened to kill the kids if Chase didn’t comply. So to protect them, he did as the criminal said, handing over his wallet and watch and phone. And when the criminal was about to kill one of them anyway, instinct took over and Chase knocked the man down and knocked him out- but when he fell the gun went off

The lights on the globe are the septiclights, each one representing a person in the community

Instead of holidays, the guardians help in the background of charity livestreams and videos to give them that little extra spark.

Sean is the equivalent of the Man in the Moon

The extra fan-made egos (like Robbie, Shawn, Angus, and Bing) are still around, they just aren’t the big guardians.

If they were tho... Robbie- Guardian of Innocence, Shawn- Guardian of Voice, Angus- Guardian of... idk, Protection? Or maybe head cannons lol, Bing- Guardian of Online Connections

When too much of the community becomes afraid/ depressed, the guardian’s form changes (like in the movie) before they disappear -JBM: Becomes weaker, probably needs his glasses to see again, basically turned into a comicbook nerd -Marvin: Loses a lot of his color, magic goes away, turns into a cat? -Henrik: Hands continuously shake, gains a stutter so people can hardly understand him, becomes super paranoid/ closed off -JJ: His colors fade to black and white, it’s really hard to summon his powers, always about to cry/ wants to scream -Chase: Goes into a low state of depression, isolates himself a lot -Anti: His bravado diminishes- basically turns into an edgy teen with spasms instead of actual glitches, wound on his neck closes.

Like in the movie there’s a point where Anti takes over (like right now) and everyone’s powers start to fade

To make this angsty(er) he manages to kill JJ and he disappears, along with the light of positivity in the community.

Chase blames himself for not being fast enough to save him

To turn thing around Henrik suggests a charity livestream to promote a mental health organization. So they all work together to prep

A young community member somehow gets into Henrik’s realm

Memes and shenanigans ensue

“We spend all our time trying to protect the community, we don’t HAVE TIME-... for the community..?”

Chase runs off after young familiar voices calling out for their daddy

Chase ends up in Anti’s realm of fear(the opening is in the woods under an abandoned computer desk). It’s a series of twisted hallways bathed in red light and entire walls of glitching computer screens that cast weird shadows

When Chase gets out he realizes all the equipment is destroyed and he wasn’t there to help

Henrik blames Chase and sad dad runs off.

The community is plunged into a state of fire and fear and there’s no positivity anywhere to be found.

Except one last light...

A fan is talking to a Sam plushie, saying that yeah they understand why the stream COULD have been cancelled.. but everything in their life is just so dark they were really looking forward to it.

Chase finds them and uses his powers to make images of septic lights and funny moments in Jack’s videos

They realize it’s Chase who’s doing it and can see him

All the egos fight Anti with the help of a few community members beside them- giving them power to fight back.

The members bring back JJ

JJ kicks the ever living shit out of Anti with the help of the others beside him Okay I think I’ll stop here XD If you read all this... wowie!

[cheeekyhoney]

Can’t wait for the whole story to come out about fifth harmony down the track. Will be know in 5 years ... 10? How bad were the contracts they signed as kids? This includes Ally cos she was still paid dust on the old contract.

You can see what they were thinking. Let’s establish the biggest girl band in the world and then split them off and have 5 superstars. The plan in establishing them as a supergroup faltered because they treated the girls like shit.

When you look back now - work from home is what made them really well known, particularly outside of America. Before that the old men in control had worked the girls to death touring and making them sing songs that others wrote. Regularly screwing the girls over and not showcasing their voices is quite evident when you listen to certain songs.

I’m a fan of all the girls voices but it is very clear that the men in control had Camila picked as the lead early on. This is so flawed and practically set them up to fail as a group. You can’t have the same sound constantly - if it isn’t working try something different.

Basically as the girls now emerge from the shadow of fifth harmony you can see all of their talents and really understand how their management and labels really did them a disservice.

I love Camila’s voice and she will keep doing well. However, she still has people controlling her every move professionally and they have made some pretty shit choices for her. Randomly releasing Sangria wine hoping it would be Havana 2.0. Yeah nah man. The song was weird and it was so clear they were trying to capitalise off of Havana. Her album was full of gems and they kind of ambled away from it and then looped back with consequences. OMG should have been on the album and was obviously omitted either due to the quite gay lyrics or they thought they could just go for the Latina sound.

The PR narratives are exhausting. Problem one. Camila keeps talking about love and heart break etc but there is no visible partner for the last few years and she claims she’s never been serious about anyone really, although clearly contradicted by her deep lyrical content and visible emotions when performing certain songs.

Enter the weirdest PR I think I’ve ever seen. Well it’s certainly right up there. Her team sets her up with a mid thirties unknown guy who claims to be a ‘love guru’. They have her mention his name in an interview so blatantly out of nowhere that it is clear it was for the fans to go back and be like ‘oh, see she mentioned him then’.

The pairing is bizarre and this slimy dude pops up for photo ops. The girl is 21 for fucks sake.

Her team needs to sort out what direction she’s going in. Is she actually in a PR relationship because she’s gay and they want to hide it because no one will like a gay star (sarcasm). Or is Camila actually into this creepy love guru and has a thing for older guys - and a queerbaiter.

They used to pair off all the gays back in the day (Tab Hunter pictured below)

Lauren’s team is a complete mess. She should have had way more exposure by now. Instead they are content for her to be the arm candy of another older man. At least he is in the music biz and you can follow the thought process a bit more than Camila and her joke of a ‘bf’.

Lauren has a very distinctive voice. So far they have been more focused on showing her smoking pot (no shade) and only promoting her PR and not capitalising on her talent. I sincerely hope that when LJ1 drops they don’t have any more Ty $ on it. Stop associating the girls with him. Leave it in the past. They need to go away from trashy lyrics and have her focus more on the sound she has when she covers Lana songs. Bring that soul out and let her voice shine.

Normani’s career is on the up and up and her team have done everything right. No bullshit. This girl is a fucken star and got no favours from the old men controlling fifth harmony. Shit the girls voice is amazing - but who would have known from the lack of lines in the band days.

Thank god she is out on her own - her new song is a bop and they are showing sides to her voice. I can see many artists wanting to work with her and actually am the most excited for her album out of all the girls - including CC2.

Dinah has had minimal promotion and been a bit under the radar - only popping up for a few shows and promo. Again, stop pairing these girls with Ty for fucks sake. Dinah has such an amazing voice. I’m concerned with how they’re managing her career atm. Hoping that she releases an awesome album and we get to hear her beautiful voice and that there aren’t too many mumbly rappers in there. Again... let her voice shine - the lady is mad talented.

Ally has been a surprise. It appeared initially that she might fade into the background once the group split but she had had some solid efforts and low key is a good move for her. Her team is doing things right also. Ally also has a great voice and deserves all the success in the world.

Can we stop having old men controlling the careers of young women.

Being gay shouldn’t be an issue anymore. Most of the time they label artists as bi and next thing pair them off with a guy again. This perpetuates the whole being bi and slutty image. It totally takes away from the headway made from tackling these issues publicly and being a voice for the community. The management teams are so incongruent.

-Let’s have Camila day she won’t be public about a relationship - literally has weird staged pics on a beach and photo ops at every opportunity.

-let’s have Lauren speak about rights and be an advocate for the LQBTQ community and then pair her with an old guy who is a misogynist.

I really hope all the girls careers fire and that they all achieve the success they desired as youngsters.

Everything always comes out in the end. Years go by and all of a sudden it all gets revealed. Friendships get repaired.

Let’s use the spice girls as an example. Big break up. Friendships broken. The girls all made up and played concerts and for the Olympics.

I think if we go with the theory that Camila and Lauren definitely had a relationship or still do. Then it won’t be revealed any time soon. Either it is over and let’s face it, getting over your first love is the worst. Or they are still together and the constant PR is gay cover. I mean the rumours have followed them for years now.

Address it properly (both of them) or expect the speculation to continue - particularly when you pair 2 young girls with guys in their mid thirties.

I mean if you have to pair Camila with someone over 30 can’t it be Taylor Schilling!

Keep rising girls and hope that you can break away from shitty teams and management as soon as possible. The girls with good management keep kicking goals!!

[lichlover]

Here’s a prompt. Post-story and song, everyone is sitting around talking about birthdays, and angus says he never really had a good one. So taako, being the best dad ever, throws angus a huge party and he loves it and loves his giant weird family even more

please consider donating to my ko-fi!

“Y’know what must’ve sucked?” says Taako. “Being born on Story and Song.”

He’s nestled comfortably in Kravitz’s lap, one arm slung over the back of the couch and the other balancing a half-empty cocktail. His glass isn’t the only one that looks like it’s about to be in need of refilling. Lup is about to reach the bottom of hers, and sitting against her, Barry holds a drink that glows eerily whenever he so much as shifts his grip. Magnus is the only one who’s drinking something Angus actually recognizes. His tabard of ale borders on the stereotypical, threatening to overflow with foam and making him red in the face, despite his insistence that he’s completely sober because “C’mon, you guys, I’d never get drunk in front of a kid!”

As if the man could convince anyone his tabard is brimming with a Shirley Temple.

But tonight isn’t about calling Magnus out on his bullshit. It’s about coming down from the aftermath and escaping from the world. They’re all sitting in the Bureau’s Reclaimer suite, because reporters haven’t quite figured out a way to get to the moon just yet, and it serves as their sanctuary away from the glitz and bright lights of fame. Angus, who has reached adolescence in theory but not in practice, appreciates the opportunity for a breather. The most recognition he’d received for his detective work had been a medal from the odd mayor or two; the rare commendation from a police commissioner. Garnering a worldwide fanbase—well, it should go without saying, but that’s another thing altogether.

As much as the Birds make a show of revelling in stardom (particularly Taako, who insists it’s his birthright), Angus can tell they’re feeling as relieved as he is. Why else would they be drinking like their lives depend on it?

Speaking of which. His mentor takes another gulp, effectively draining the cocktail, and goes on. “What the hell are you s’posed to do when your birthday is the fuckin’—fuckin’, when-the-world-got-saved day? You think anybody’s gonna pay attention to you then? Nah, they’re too—too busy gettin’ smashed and partying in the streets to worry about little Timmy or whatever, over there with—with a pair of commemorative socks, or whatever. Lame.”

“I thought you didn’t like birthdays,” Magnus points out.

“I don’t. They’re a big fuckin’ inconvenience. I’m makin’ conver—conversa—” Taako rolls his eyes and nudges Kravitz’s shoulder. “What’s the—?”

“Conversation,” his boyfriend provides, patiently. It had, admittedly, taken Angus some time to get over the man’s Grim Reaper status, because there is no amount of logic and common sense that keeps a child from feeling uneasy in the presence of death. But Kravitz, for all his awkward, outdated mannerisms and omnipresent exasperation, is a good man. He loves Taako, Angus knows; even if the L-word is something both of them insist on dancing around like they’re doing a quickstep on hot coals. And he’s kind to Taako’s family and everyone he cares about. Angus approves.

Taako reaches out to set his glass on the side table, misses, and lets it drop harmlessly to the carpet. “Yeah. That. Who even celebrates birthdays anymore?”

A murmur of consensus ripples over the room, and Angus readjusts his hold on the hot chocolate nestled in his hands. “Right!” he says, breaking into the conversation with a tentative smile. “They’re not a big deal, right?”

Fourteen pairs of eyes settle on him instantaneously. Despite the fact that he’s never known such a thing, Angus imagines it’s to the effect of fourteen parents staring him down. He isn’t a huge fan of it. “What?” he says, and takes a nervous sip of his hot chocolate because there’s nothing else to fill the silence. “What is it?”

“Ango,” says Magnus, in the tone of voice he uses when one of the Hammer and Tails’ dogs has wandered off. “Tell me you’ve had a birthday party.”

“Even a weird kid like you’s gotta have at least one of ’em under his belt,” Merle interjects. “Right?”

The discomfort in Angus’s expression is reaching Kravitz levels of obvious. “Uh… no? I mean, I got presents from my grandpa when he could afford it, but most of the time we just—”

“Okay,” Taako interrupts. “This is ridiculous.”

He gets up from Kravitz’s lap, which looks a bit like a spider unfolding its tangled limbs, and sways precariously on his feet before he regains his balance. “You dipshits know what we gotta do now.”

Magnus is already perked up. “Oh, yeah.”

“Sorry,” says Angus, “what are we doing?”

Taako levels a finger at him. He’s actually pointing at something just over Angus’s shoulder, but the sentiment is there nonetheless.

“We’re givin’ you the fuckin’ birthday party of a lifetime,” he says. “And you’re—you’ll never see it coming.”

Angus does see it coming.

For one, he catches Magnus creeping toward the residential dome with a crate full of fireworks. To his credit, Magnus stays mostly poker-faced as he explains that he’s gathering explosives for one of Lup’s post-regenerative experiments. He’s so taciturn that Angus doesn’t have the heart to say anything about it.

For another, the Reclaimer suite’s availability evaporates into thin air. The Birds hem and haw and claim it’s an administrative decision, and Angus nods and politely agrees because he really is touched by the amount of effort that’s going into keeping him out of the loop. They even put up caution tape—RENOVATIONS IN PROGRESS! it says. He assumes it’s a clever means of explaining away the occasional drilling, grating, and scraping sounds he can make out behind the door.

They do the best they can to keep him away from it. Lup and Barry invite Angus to their lab for a day, which granted is a privilege Angus can’t bear to pass up, so he goes and learns an inordinate amount about something that is definitely not necromancy, especially if Kravitz asks. Davenport takes him sailing, and Angus learns how to steer a ship with confidence, even if he can’t quite keep up with the captain’s rapid fire nautical-speak. He leads his first seminar at Taako’s Amazing School of Magic. The students snicker until Angus politely but ruthlessly shoots down their proposals for new spells, and suddenly their young professor is deserving of significantly more respect.

He’s out on the lawn one day, practicing some spells of his own, when he feels a hand on his shoulder. Angus jumps and almost loses his footing on the artificial grass, and the Director—Lucretia—winces and jerks back. “Sh—sorry,” she stammers. “I knew sneaking up on you was a bad idea, and… well, funny thing, I just did it anyway.”

She looks different, he thinks, especially now that he knows how young she used to be. The bags under her eyes are more pronounced—she’s been working day and night to kickstart the newly established Bureau of Benevolence and, Angus suspects, to avoid confrontation with the Birds. Even Magnus, who’s forgiven her unconditionally, seems a little touchy when Lucretia’s name is mentioned. Angus doesn’t blame her for wanting to stay away.

“Hello, ma’am!” he says, because he hasn’t quite figured out how he feels about Lucretia’s decision, but he knows she’s a good person, and there’s no reason why he can’t spare her some common courtesy. “Can I, uh… can I help you with something?”

Lucretia balks a little at that, and her hand tightens almost imperceptibly around her new staff. It’s considerably simpler than the Bulwark Staff; made out of smooth, elegantly polished red wood with a subtle gloss. The tiny outline of a duck sits at its base—a Burnsides Original. “Oh. Um—mind if I sit?”

Angus doesn’t. She lowers herself to the grass, and he sits cross-legged beside her and looks through the transparent dome overhead as she situates herself. The sky is pale and bright, starting to fade with the gradual advance of evening, and the shadows around them grow longer as the sun sinks toward the horizon.

It’s a lonely hour of the day, he thinks.

Lucretia looks over and smiles faintly. “You know about the birthday party, don’t you?”

“Yes, ma’am,” says Angus, truthfully.

Her shoulders slump as she breathes out a small sigh of relief. “Thank the gods. I realized as soon as I said it that if you didn’t know, I’d be spoiling the surprise, and… well.” She shakes her head. “I should have known, anyway. You’re too smart to be caught off guard like that.”

“Well, ma’am, I am the World’s Greatest Detective!”

“That you are.” Lucretia’s smile returns, softer; lacking the weariness he’s so accustomed to seeing. “Anyway, I, uh… I’m not going to be there, because—”

It isn’t polite to interrupt, but Angus wants to spare her the agony of explaining. “I know,” he says.

Something like gratitude shimmers briefly in Lucretia’s eyes before she continues. “I just wanted to give you this.”

She reaches into the folds of her robe and produces a parcel, neatly wrapped in holographic paper and topped with a tiny bow. Angus takes it, and she nods encouragingly at him. “Open it.”

He does. It’s a journal—the cover is a deep, vibrant blue inlaid with white thread, which glimmers subtly when he tips it from side to side. Angus thumbs over the creamy paper and cradles the cover in his palms, and as he does so, it falls open to the first page. There, in Lucretia’s delicate calligraphy, is a message.

For your observations.Happy birthday to the smartest, bravest young man I know.

Madam Director

He looks up at her, struck dumb. “This is…”

“It’s just a little something,” says Lucretia, who looks suddenly but unmistakably shy. “I saw that little notepad of yours and I just thought you could use something a little nice—”

She breaks off when Angus hugs her. His arms, he notices, can now fit comfortably around her midriff, and the ridges of tiny ribs poke into his chest.

“Thank you, ma’am,” he whispers.

He can feel her nod against him, and slowly, hesitantly, she returns the embrace. “Of course.”

Taako rouses him bright and early with a shower of sparks over his bed. “Up and at ’em, Agnes!” he says. “Early morning magic lesson! We’ve got work to do!”

Angus is still bleary-eyed when his mentor drags him from his dormitory on the Bureau. He stops to tap one shoe against the pavement, fitting it completely over his foot, and then he’s off again, struggling to keep pace with Taako’s long strides.

“Sir,” he says, around an inadvertent yawn. “Where are we going?”

“I just said it was a magic lesson. Keep up.”

“But,” says Angus, peering under the brim of Taako’s enormous hat, “we usually practice on the quad, and we just passed the quad.”

Taako thrusts a hand at him and practically bats his inquiry away. “Less questions, more—more walking, let’s go!”

And that’s how Angus knows.

They arrive at the Reclaimer suite not five minutes later, and sure enough, the caution tape is gone. “Just need to pick up some shit,” Taako mumbles, digging around for his keys. “Won’t take a minute, and then we’ll—we’ll be off to the races, yeah?”

Something shuffles behind the door, followed by a bit of muffled whispering. Taako looks a little bit like he wants to die, but credit where credit is due—he soldiers on, undaunted. “C’mon, kid.”

The key slides into the lock, the door swings open, and an explosion of light and sound nearly knocks Angus off his feet.

“Happy birthday, Angus!” several voices shout in unison, and then the roof explodes.

A flurry of fireworks swirl around them, and Lup’s scream of delight almost drowns out the chorus of popping and fizzing. “Look at that!” she yells. “Perfect execution! Boom! Hope you were filming that, babe, ’cuz that’s never happening again!”

Barry holds up a Lucas Miller official patented Fantasy Camcorder™. “Got it!”

Angus blinks the stars out of his eyes and looks around the room. Apart from Barry, Lup, and Taako, he spots Magnus, Davenport, Carey and Killian arm-in-arm, Ren, Avi, and Merle, with a suspiciously plant-shaped gift sitting next to him. The room is draped with fantasy fairy lights and streamers, but what catches Angus’s eye isn’t the decor, or the mountain of presents in the corner of the room. It’s a cake—mounted at the center of the room, taller than he is, with a fondant rendition of a very familiar-looking hat and magnifying glass at the top.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE WORLD’S GREATEST DETECTIVE! it says.

“Oh, wow,” says Angus. “This is a complete surprise. I never expected—”

“We know you knew,” says Taako.

“Oh, thank gods.” Angus drops the facade of shock, but his smile stays put—it’s wider and brighter than the plane of magic itself.

“Thank you,” he says, and can’t quite swallow back the emotional break in his voice. “Thank you guys so much.”

“Anytime, little man,” says Lup. Her hair is slightly singed, but her grin is almost as large as his. “It was our pleasure.”

“Speaking of which,” says Merle. “It is your birthday, right?”

The room goes silent.

“Shit.”

“Fuck—”

“Watch your fucking language!”

“How could nobody check, how did we miss that—”

A late firework shoots into the air, the Birds devolve into squabbling, and Angus McDonald laughs.

[youngshiney]

Exo Solo/Unit MV Most Replayed Moments

As promised, this is the data I collected for all of the solo and unit music videos for Exo. Much like the first part, I only did official MVs, so no station songs or special videos EXCEPT CBX's The One because it's so short and funny. I also included Zitao since I'm still ot11 for life, but I wasn't sure how many of Luhan's MVs there are since I've only ever watched On Fire. I may loop bacl around one day when I have more time to dig into his stuff.

CBX:

Hey Mama!: Baekhyun’s “Are you ready?”, upward trend starts at Minseok’s rap

Ka-Ching!: Minseok’s opening “ka-ching”, very high/steady retention rate

The One: girl!Baek, steady retention overall but big peak at girl!Baek

Blooming Day: Baekhyun’s “Hey there don’t move”, steady retention but downward trend

Horololo: Minseok’s first “The beat is freaking sick boy”, steady retention

Notes: Overall, these videos have a lot of viewers that both watch and stick around for the whole time. It's also interesting when you think about the data between Exo-K and Exo-M retention rates because it definitely aligns with the idea of M viewers staying longer since 2/3 members are M members.

SC:

What a Life: intro most played, downward trend after beginning but low/steady through the mv

Telephone: same as What a Life

1 Billion Views: first chorus, higher retention than first two with some peaks

Notes: Not as many people tend to watch or stick around for SC songs. While they are mostly consistent across the videos, the retention rates are so low that it almost doesn't look like any one watches outside of the most replayed moments.

Baekhyun:

UN Village: “Navigation” when the shadow is on his face except his eyes, steady retention

Candy: “chemistry”, steady retention but more peaks

Bambi: high note, much higher retention rate and bigger peaks

Get You Alone: intro, more rollercoastery with lots of peaks and valleys

Notes: Baekhyun has pretty high retention rates throughout all of his MVs with the exception of Get You Alone which is a bit more all over the place, though it's to be expected since a lot of fans don't pay as much attention to Japanese tracks. He definitely seems to have more dedicated viewers compared to his fellow K members.

Chen:

Beautiful Goodbye: first chorus, high/steady retention

Shall We?: 2:28, high/steady retention

Notes: Not much to say about Jongdae's rates beyond that they are both high and consistent, further giving weight to my K vs M theory about retention.

Lay:

Sheep: Yixing in the microwave before the first chorus, steady downward trend in retention

Namanana: right before the bridge, higher peaks than Sheep but still a good retention rate

Honey: “please don’t catch no feelings”, lower retention rate but steady

Lit: Yixing’s first line, steady rate and a big peak at the bridge

Notes: Yixing has very steady consistency across all of his MVs, however, he does have the lowest rates out of the M members. Though I wonder how much of it is because he only promotes in China, barring that one promotion period for Namanana that he did in the US.

Suho:

Let’s Love: intro most replayed, steady retention rate

Grey Suit: “Let me shine bright”, lower retention but steady upward trend

Hurdle: intro, low retention rate but consistent

Notes: Sad to say but not a lot of people seem to watch or stick around for Junmyeon's songs. He does have some consistency and peaks in his MVs but the overall rate is low. Much like SC, people come and watch a bit or a specific moment and then leave, according to the trends given on their videos.

Kai:

Mmmh: first “you make me feel so mmmh mmmh”, high retention but downward trend

Peaches: bridge start, upward trend

Notes: While Mmmh has a downward trend, the retention rate is so high that its not very noticable. On the other hand, Peaches starts lower but gradually builds which I think is interesting. It's almost like these two songs are mirrors.

D.O.:

Rose: the end??, upward and steady trend

Notes: Kyungsoo's video has a steady climb upward, meaning that people are watching more and more as the video goes on. I'm not sure exactly why the end is the most replayed though since it's just the SM logo.

Chanyeol:

Nothing: the end, low but consistent retention

Notes: Much like Rose, I'm not sure why the end of the video is most replayed. The viewership is very, very low for Nothing, but I don't know if it's because people just aren't watching SC music videos overall or if it's because this MV is so short.

Sehun:

On Me: the end, low and steady retention but big peaks at the beginning and during Vivi’s parts

Notes: Very sad to say that Sehun isn't even the most replayed part of his solo, it's his son (though Vivi is very cute). This video has about the same data as Nothing, but with peaks for Vivi's cameos.

Zitao:

Beggar: the kiss at the track, high retention and lots of peaks

AB: “Now we’re talking baby”, steady retention but slight downward trend

Ai: where he starts singing, high/steady retention

Notes: Zitao's videos have very high retention rates, probably the highest among any of the Exo solos and definitely the highest of the M members. Hailangs seem to stick around for the whole time in these videos, with the exception of the end credits of Beggar and the intro for Ai.